Senior jellies: What is one item you've kept that no one will understand when you're gone?

2 Anime figures of the original Dirty Pair, Kei and Yuri. When I bought them, they cost me $100 each.

I have a number of things that make no sense to my children, but are precious to me.

I have topographic maps of parts of the Sierra Nevada which are covered in clear contact paper. Even though I have had them for over 40 years, they are still like new.

I collected stamps when I was a teenager, and have a cover postmarked April 24, 1970 at a stamp expo, with the POW/MIA stamp on it, along with a sticker that says “March Against the War April 24, 1970”. Half a million people marched past the stamp expo to Golden Gate Park that day.

It’s a do-nothing crank. A small hand-sized block of wood with a crank that rotates, causing two shafts of wood to move back and forth…
Oh, I could explain for another twenty minutes, but it really does nothing!

Old vintage books ( 1600’s/1700” era) because they won’t be around anymore.

My wooden box, maybe.

It was a gift from my boss when I retired from the phone company.
I joke it contained my soul.

At some point in her past, my mom found a tiny blue (empty) egg about the size of the end of your pinky. She put it in a small jewelry container on the old cotton that was there. After she died I found it and made it a better nest of new cotton. My brother, sister and I each got the furniture we wanted, and I chose the solid walnut dining table and hutch. That little egg sits in the hutch and I can’t throw it away.

I don’t know when or where she found it; it could easily be 50 years old or more. I kept it because she thought it was beautiful and worth keeping. My sister doesn’t see the point at all. I don’t have any kids, so when I go, I’m sure my sister will toss it. I have a number of things from my folks that only I wanted…like the first flower and card Dad gave to Mom when they were 17 – pressed in a book. I also have clippings of fur from most of the animals I’ve had to say goodbye to. Some people may think it’s morbid, but to me, those things are my treasures.

I have a set of old drafting tools from the 1970’s and 80’s. Couple mechanical pencils, triangles, lettering templates, etc.

Some were my grandfather’s, some are mine from when I studied drafting in high school.

My astrocompass. It’s a navigational tool used on large airplanes back in the WWII. Works better and more reliable than magnetic compasses. Still fully functional.

A couple of things immediately come to mind.

The sliderule I used in college. It is a beauty. I wore it on my belt like all the other nerds.
The little tied ball of cloth my parents gave to me as an infant. They saved it all these years so I’m keeping it.

We used to play with my dad’s slide rule. It was cool.

Can’t think of anything right now. But it does open up a whole new idea! What could I get that would make them all puzzle after I’m gone?